Wan Rosdy gets mandate again to lead Pahang govt

KUANTAN, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Pahang Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail was once again given the mandate to lead the administration of the Pahang state government when he was named as Menteri Besar for the second term.

The appointment of Wan Rosdy, 64, follows the consent granted by Pahang Regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah who also consented to the formation of a state government by BN and Pakatan Harapan (PH) after no party obtained a simple majority in the 15th general election (GE15), on Nov 19.

The presentation of the appointment letter and taking the oath of office of Menteri Besar was held today at Balairung Seri, Istana Abu Bakar in Pekan.

In GE15, BN won 16 seats in the Pahang State Assembly, one less than Perikatan Nasional (PN) while PH won eight seats, and polling for the Tioman state seat will take place on Dec 7.

The voting process in the island constituency was postponed due to the death of PN candidate Md Yunus Ramli, 61, at 3.30 am on GE15 polling day, believed to be due to a heart attack. However, the election result will not have a major impact on the majority of any party.

In GE15, Wan Rosdy who is the Cameron Highlands UMNO division head successfully defended the Jelai state seat for the fifth term with a majority of 6,983 votes.

Born on Oct 1, 1958, in Kampung Tanjung Gahai, Kuala Lipis, he received his early education at Sekolah Rendah Clifford and Sekolah Menengah Clifford, both in Kuala Lipis before moving to Sekolah Menengah Mahmud in Raub.

He then furthered his studies with a Diploma of Trade Studies at Mara Institute of Technology (ITM) before continuing his studies to the Bachelor's Degree in Social Science majoring in Political Science from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

Wan Rosdy started his career as assistant chief officer of the National Paddy and Rice Board in Perak with the last position as senior manager (Central Region), Padiberas Nasional Berhad (BERNAS) in 2003, before he joined politics.

Wan Rosdy contested an election for the first time in 2004, and was appointed as the 15th Menteri Besar of Pahang on May 15, 2018 to replace Tan Sri Adnan Yaakob.

Before that, Wan Rosdy was also a member of the State Executive Council (Exco) from 2008 to 2018, holding the posts of State Housing and Township Committee chairman as well as State Rural Development and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman.

Among the achievements of Wan Rosdy's administration in his first term was successfully increasing state revenue collection above RM1 billion for the first time, besides attracting investment of RM20.56 billion as of Sept 30 and reducing debts from RM3.31 billion to RM952.21 million.

Wan Rosdy is married to Datin Seri Burhah Mohammed and is blessed with three children.

Among the awards he has received are Darjah Seri Utama Mahkota Wilayah (SUMW) which carries the title 'Datuk Seri Utama' in 2021 and Darjah Sri Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang (SSAP) with the title  Datuk Seri in 2014.

-- BERNAMA